Dems have few options on economy

With another tepid jobs report in the books Friday, Democrats desperate for quick policy action to boost the economy face an excruciating dilemma, experts say.

The few things that might pass Congress — such as a payroll tax holiday or extended research-and-development tax credits — won’t work, or at least not before November’s midterm elections, when Democrats face potentially devastating losses.

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And the few things that might work — such as an aggressive new infrastructure spending bill — can’t pass, uniformly viewed as politically impossible at a time of trillion-dollar-plus deficits.

What to do? If you are President Barack Obama, you go out and talk about the economy — in Milwaukee on Monday, Cleveland on Wednesday and at a White House news conference Friday. He’s expected to propose some new business tax breaks next week, including possibly a payroll tax break and R&D credits, but the White House said no final decisions have been made.

But experts warn that voter attitudes about the economy are now locked in heading into November — leaving Obama to hope he gets credit for focusing on the economy even if he can’t put much of a near-term dent in an unemployment rate that inched up to 9.6 percent in August.

“From a political standpoint it really doesn’t matter what the president says or does on the economy between now and Election Day,” said William Galston, a Brookings Institution scholar who served in the Clinton White House. “There is not enough time to do anything significant and not enough time to move the needle of public opinion.”

Here are a few pros and cons of several economic ideas that are currently on the table — or that experts say should be:

PAYROLL TAX REDUCTIONS

Obama is thought to be considering an idea along these lines. One popular item under discussion that would very likely attract Republican support on Capitol Hill is an extension of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, which would give businesses a payroll tax exemption for hiring workers who have been out of a job for more than 60 days.

Pros: This could help at the margins by encouraging businesses that have been sitting on cash — worried about how badly the economy is going to slow down this year — to start hiring. It’s also designed to give unemployed workers a leg up in hiring decisions, in hopes of cutting into the nagging problem of long-term unemployed workers.

But HIRE wouldn’t go as far as another idea also believed to be under consideration: a broader move to offer a temporary, across-the-board “holiday” from the payroll taxes that both employees and employers pay to help cover Social Security and Medicare costs.

This cost is economically insignificant given the overall size of the deficit — projected to hit $1.47 trillion this year — but could be politically difficult given the current fear of doing anything that would push the country further into budgetary red ink.

There is also the major problem that a payroll tax holiday would do nothing to address the issue of tepid consumer demand. All the hiring tax credits and holidays in the world will not make businesses hire if they do not believe there will be a market for the goods and services created by their new workers.

Here's an option...STOP TALKING! Here's another...admit your policies are failures. Here's a third...fire the bozos who dreamt up these failures and for good measure the 4th option is just stop trying to ruin this country.

Not just Democrats but also Republicans have few options. Not just America but also Europe and Japan are boxed in by decades of over-reliance on an irresponsible financial sector. Now the chickens have come home to roost an we will all be paying for the bailouts and borrowing for a long long time. But don't worry, the bankers will still get their bonusses!

Very simple. Allow the Bush tax cuts for the rich EXPIRE and give small business tax cuts with another stimulus for the working class. The 450 billion wasted on the rich could be used to stimulate growth. Making the rich richer does nothing for our economy except destroy it. Giving tax breaks to the rich in hopes that they will invest it in the economy is crazy. They simply become richer while the middle class/working class falls deeper into poverty. Repugs advocate for a continued plutocracy even after destroying our economy.

It's not just Democrats who have few options, anyone who's governing is boxed in by the decades of bad decisisions, borrowing, deregulation, and over-reliance on the irresponsible financial sector. We'll be paying for the Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush giveaways fotr a long, long time. Bit don't worry, the bankers will still get their bonusses!

It's not just Democrats who have few options, anyone who's governing is boxed in by the decades of bad decisisions, borrowing, deregulation, and over-reliance on the irresponsible financial sector. We'll be paying for the Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush giveaways fotr a long, long time. Bit don't worry, the bankers will still get their bonusses!

Very simple. Allow the Bush tax cuts for the rich EXPIRE and give small business tax cuts with another stimulus for the working class. The 450 billion wasted on the rich could be used to stimulate growth. Making the rich richer does nothing for our economy except destroy it. Giving tax breaks to the rich in hopes that they will invest it in the economy is crazy. They simply become richer while the middle class/working class falls deeper into poverty. Repugs advocate for a continued plutocracy even after destroying our economy.

"PC is a doctrine fostered by a delusional minority, and the mainstream media, that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end"

Hey, no big deal. Just ram through another trillion dollar piece of legislation, and for sure don't read a single page. If it's working so great, keep doing more of it. What's that? It's not working so great?

Maybe it's time for plan B -- make it a two trillion dollar piece of legislation this time. Governing is so very easy to do when you can just ignore your failures and keep repeating them.

Only one problem -- those pesky voters and elections. Need to come up with some fresh lies, and a lot of cash to spread them far and wide. How about: "It could be a lot worse." Heck, that's actually the truth. Just wait and see. Remember: "Vote idiotic, vote for democrats. It can get a lot worse."

Maybe, just maybe they could have concentrated on the economy and letting businesses thrive v. adding more regulation onto them and increase expenses dramatically on them. A high school student after one econmics class could have told you that concentrating on cap and tax, government healthcare, and suing a state that is just trying to minimally enforce the country's immigration policy would not only not stimulate the economy, but stiffle it.

Pelosi, Reid, and Obama cannot get away with their LIES any longer. The only ones that still believe in them are the 35% of the nation that are elitist, union workers, and those looking for a hand out. Good bye and good riddance.

THERE WILL BE NO JOSBS AS LONGAS THE MAIN THEME OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE IS TO REDISTRIBUTE THE WEALTH, CENTRALIZE GOVERNMENT, REFUSE TO LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE, HAVE A TAX SYSTEM WHERE ONLY 50% OF AMERICANS EVEN PAY TAXESCONTINUE TO SPEND LIKE DRUNKEN SAILORS AND KEEP SMALL BUSINESS SO CONFUSED AS TO WHAT WILL HIT THEM NEXTMORE TAXES, HEALTH CARE THAT NO ONE CAN AFFORDBORDERS THAT ARE NOT SECURE AND ON AND ON AND ON!FOLKS, THERE ARN'T GOING TO BE ANY JOBS UNTIL THE GANG OF THEVES IN WASHINGTON IS THROWN OUT! EITHER TAKE THIS ALL SERIOUSLY AND QUITE MAKING UP REASONS ALL IS WELLOR GET IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT, BROKE, NO HOME LINE WITH THE REST OF US!